USA > Connecticut > New London County > Old Lyme > The educational history of Old Lyme, Connecticut, 1635-1935 > Part 21
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The facts and conclusions relative to the settlement of Saybrook and Lyme, included in the years 1635-1665, are drawn primarily from two sources: Winthrop, John, History of New England, 1630-1649, with notes by James Savage, Phelps and Farnham, 1825-1826; and Andrews, Charles M., The Colonial Period of American History, Vol. II, Chaps. III
235
Bibliographical Note.
and IV, Yale University Press, 1936. Gates, Gilman C., Saybrook, at the Mouth of the Connecticut, Wilson H. Lee Co., 1935.
The Connecticut State Register, 1786-1935, Connecticut State Library vaults, includes data on ferries and bridges, with toll rates for the several years. Also the names of innkeepers, postmasters and other public officials.
Special Subjects, Miscellaneous. A great number of historical studies of special subjects, related to the general history of Connecticut, help to en- rich and fortify one's understanding of conditions within a given unit of the state. These have to do with commerce, land division, Indian neighbors, religious life, transportation, industry and colonial houses. Andrews, Charles M., "Colonial Commerce," American Historical Review, Vol. XX, No. I, 1914. Trumbull, J. Hammond, Indians of the Connecticut River Valley, Memorial History of Hartford County, 1886. Labaree, Leonard W., Mil- ford, Connecticut, the early development of a town as shown in its land records, Yale University Press, 1933. This is very helpful in clarifying the colonial system of land division. Earle, Alice Morse, The Sabbath in Puri- tan New England, New York, Scribner's Sons, 1891. Earle, Alice Morse, Stage Coach and Tavern Days, Macmillan Co., 1900. Wood, Frederic J., Turnpikes of New England, Marshall Jones Company, Boston, Massa- chusetts, 1929. Davies, Joseph S., Essays in the Earlier History of Ameri- can Corporations, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1917. Jenkins, Stephen, The Old Boston Post Road, Putnam's Sons, 1914. Ringwalt, John L., The Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, Philadelphia, Railway World Office, 1888. Bishop, J. Leander, A History of American Manufactures from 1608-1860, Edward Young and Co., February 4, 1865, Philadelphia. Trowbridge, Bertha C. and Andrews, Charles M., Old Houses of Connecticut, Yale University Press, 1923. Other invaluable sources of current information on related subject matter are included in the recent publications of the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut. Out of a long list the following are suggestive: Rosenberry, Lois K., Migrations from Connecticut Prior to 1800; Mitchell, Mary H., The Great Awakening and Other Revivals in the Religious Life of Connecticut; Morse, J. M., The Rise of Liberalism; Mitchell, I. S., Roads and Road-Making in Colonial Connecticut.
Special Subjects, Educational. A rather complete knowledge of the develop- ment of education within the state of Connecticut has been a prerequisite to an understanding of education and schooling in Old Lyme. This has been gathered from state records, general texts, educational journals, research stud- ies and special articles. The Annual Report of the Commissioner of Common Schools in Connecticut first appeared in 1839. The nineteenth annual re- port was issued in 1864. This contains the official records of public educa- tion during the years in which Henry Barnard created the free public-
236 Educational History of Old Lyme.
school system of Connecticut. A special Report of the Superintendent of Common Schools to the General Assembly, May Session, 1853, includes an excellent brief summary of the history of education in Connecticut. The Reports of the Superintendent of Schools in Connecticut, 1846-1865, and the Reports of the Connecticut State Board of Education, 1865-1935, complete the entire sweep of state records for the century 1835-1935.
Steiner, Bernard C., The History of Education in Connecticut, Govern- ment Printing Office, 1893, is the only general text on the history of edu- cation within the state. This, however, is very old-very uneven in its treatment of periods and definitely more valuable for the colonial period. Griffin, Orwin B., The Evolution of the Connecticut State School System, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1928; and Swift, Fletcher Harper, A History of the Public Permanent Common School Funds in the United States, Henry Holt and Company, 1911, have necessary general material.
The Connecticut Common School Journal of Education, issued from 1839 to 1865, was the vehicle of Barnard's educational program. Most of his educational objectives were presented to the public through the issues of the Common School Journal. Many school records are included, together with splendid articles on the European schools of the times.
The best research study is that of Walker, Helen Martin, Development of State Support and Control of Education in Connecticut, published by the State Board of Education, Hartford, Connecticut, 1926. This includes a chronological résumé of all the state laws concerning education. Other excel- lent reference articles are the following: American Mercury, "Schools and the School Fund," 1794; North American Review, "Discussion of School Societies and Districts," April, 1823; Barnard, Henry, "The Clergy and Popular Education," American Journal of Education, V, 351; Lectures of the American Institute of Instruction, Lecture V, Denison Olmsted, "Ob- servations on the School System of Connecticut," published by William D. Ticknor, Boston, 1839; Barnard, Henry, "History of the Common Schools of Connecticut to 1870," American Journal of Education, V, 225; Bourne, Edward G., The History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837, New York and London, 1885; Updegraff, Harlan, The Origin of The Moving School in Massachusetts, Teachers College Contributions in Education, No. 17, New York, 1907; Cheney, Howell, "District and Town Management of Con- necticut Schools," Connecticut School Documents, No. 321; Simpson, A. D., "Consolidation in Connecticut," Connecticut State Board of Education, special report, 1925.
Local. Source material covering New London County very generally in- cludes specific data on Lyme and Old Lyme. Caulkins, F. M., History of New London, 1612-1852, published in New London, 1852; Hurd, D. H., History of New London County, J. W. Lewis and Company, 1882; and Beers, Ellis and Soule, Atlas of New London County, 1868, are of this
237
Bibliographical Note.
type. Pease and Niles, Gazetteer of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 1819, gives an excellent description of the town at that time, with helpful sta- tistics.
General genealogical data and Revolutionary War records have been lifted from the Records of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution, 1812, and War with Mexico, Adjutant General's Office, Hartford, Connecticut, 1889; and from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Bos- ton, S. G. Drake, 1847. Family histories used in building up the social herit- age of Old Lyme were: Perkins, Mary E., Chronicles of a Connecticut Farm, Boston, 1905; Allyn, A. B., Griswolds, Traditions and Reminiscences of Black Hall, Goodspeed, Boston, 1908; Burt, Sarah S., Old Silltown, Some- thing of Its History and People, published by W. G. Burt, 1912; Mather, Horace E., The Lineage of Richard Mather, Hartford, 1890; Marvin, George F., Descendants of Reinold and Mathew Marvin, 1635-1904, T. P. Marvin and Son, Boston, 1904; Salisbury, E. E. and E. M., Family Histories and Genealogies, privately published, 1892; Trowbridge, F. B., The Champion Genealogy, New Haven, 1891.
Rather miscellaneous local material of evident character was gathered from the following books and magazines. Lyme, First Congregational Church, by Timothy Stone, a sermon delivered January 15, 1795, State Library, Hartford; Beers, J. B., History of Middlesex County, J. B. Beers and Company, 1884, contains records of the early ferries across to Lyme shores; Marvin, William, Historical Address: First Congregational Church of Lyme, Connecticut, August 22, 1926, includes source material on the settlement of the old town, the division of the land and the later division of parishes into ecclesiastical societies; material descriptive of the situation is to be found in Isham, N. M., and Brown, A. F., Early Connecticut Houses, Preston and Rounds, 1900; Wight, C. A., Some Old Meeting Houses of the Connecticut Valley, The Rich Print, Chicopee Falls, Massa- chusetts.
An interesting school survey is the Connecticut School Document, No. 7, Report of the Condition of Schools in New London County, 1890. This contains considerable data showing the comparative position of the schools of Old Lyme. The recent court decision given in connection with the town's request for an interpretation of the Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury will is to be found in full in The Atlantic Reporter, "The Lyme High School Association vs. Alling," Vol. 154, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, 1931.
In conclusion it should be stated that the local source material for Old Lyme is far more illuminating for the early years of its history than for the latter. The old records of Lyme, including the records of the First Ecclesiastical Society of Lyme, provide a continuous story of affairs in the town. With the Revolutionary War, records of a local character become more meager and improve but slightly with the close of the war. The school-society records for the entire period 1795-1856 are missing. No
238 Educational History of Old Lyme.
single report remains of the school society in the First Ecclesiastical Society of Lyme. From the incorporation of Old Lyme in 1855 to the publication of the first printed town report in 1882, the records of the town meetings are kept in small inexpensive notebooks, in many cases poorly written and on cheap paper. The school data for this period are pathetically limited. Since 1882 the town reports have improved greatly and the reports of school supervisors have been well prepared. The reports of the Board of School Visitors are, however, most casual and will provide little as future reference material. Many are written in pencil. The most valuable contri- butions made during these recent years have to do with family histories. These are rich in information relative to the early social, religious and economic life of the town.
A Work Chart.
Chronological Events Affecting the Development of Education and Schooling in Old Lyme, Connecticut.
Local Events
1635 Governor Winthrop at Saybrook Fort.
1636 Geo. Fenwick and Company arrived at Saybrook.
1636 A deed from Indians of tract of land on east side of river.
1639 Town of Saybrook incorporated.
1641 Thomas Lee and family sailed for America.
1644 Colony of Saybrook sold to Connecticut.
1645 Black Hall as grant to Mathew Griswold.
1646 Rev. James Fitch became pastor at Saybrook.
1647 Capt. Geo. Fenwick returned to England.
1647 Saybrook Fort burned.
1648 Henry Champion reached Saybrook from Norwich, England.
1648 John Lay Sr. on East Side.
1653 Alarm and distress from Dutch and Indians.
1658 Reinold Marvin made a freeman of Lyme, May 20.
1660 Rev. Fitch with large following left for Norwich.
1660 Thos. Lee house built.
1660 Final settlement with Fenwick heirs.
1661 John Mason bought all lands from Uncas for Colony.
1663 Grant for ferry, Saybrook to Lyme.
1664 Colony set up on east side of river.
1665 "Loving Parting."
1666 Moses Noyes began pastorate at Lyme.
1667 Town of Lyme Incorporated (May).
1667 Committee chosen to lay out highways.
1669 Wm. Lord purchased nearly all of Eight Mile River Valley.
1671 List of estates in Lyme, 1663: £5, 15s. ood.
1672 Repairing of road to meetinghouse.
1673 L. Austin given land and contract as town weaver.
1673 Cart-bridge over Duck River.
1674 Andros attempted to land at Saybrook.
1676 Capt. Sill removed from Cambridge to Lyme.
241
A Work Chart.
State Events
1636 April 26, first General Court held in Hartford.
1637 Pequot War; Uncas became important chief.
1638 New Haven Colony founded.
1639 Original Constitution of Connecticut.
1639 First School Law in New Haven.
1643 Miantinomo, Narragansett chief, slain.
1643 New England Colonies confederated.
1644 Connecticut Colony controlled Connecticut River towns.
1648 Legislature accepted Cambridge Platform as religious con- stitution.
1650 First School Code in Connecticut Colony: teacher in every town of 50 families, grammar school in every town of 100 families.
1657 The court ordered a schoolmaster in every plantation.
1657 Uncas held in Norwich Fort; saved by Leffingwell.
1660 Repurchase of Patent, April 25.
1660 15 churches in Colony.
1662 Royal charter granted.
1665 Union of two colonies: Connecticut laws prevailed; 8,000 or 9,000 inhabitants, 20 ministers.
1666 Counties set off and county courts regulated.
1670 1/4 of entire revenue "laid out for free schools."
1671 School Code of 1650 reenacted.
1675 General Andros demanded Saybrook Fort.
1675 King Philip's War: Swamp Fight at Pattyquamscott.
242
Educational History of Old Lyme.
Local Events
1677 Agreement regarding corn mill.
1678 Persons and estates in Lyme: 60 proprietors.
1678 Richard T. Ely received permit for sawmill.
1680 First record of schools in Lyme.
1680 First teacher engaged; 4 months' school.
1684 Land surveyed for meetinghouse.
1684 School dames for young children: I near Duck River, I Be- tween the Rivers.
1684 Record of approved list of boys, £1/2 each.
1685 Mr. Goodman Hall granted 10 acres for mill.
I686 A meeting to locate meetinghouse.
I686
Mr. Mathew Griswold's share of 4th division.
1688
Mr. Richard Mather moved to Lyme from Dorchester.
1689 A meetinghouse built; new cart-bridge over Duck River.
1690 Gunpowder and lead bought and distributed.
1692 Plan to catechize all bachelors and boys Sundays; girls and maids, weekdays.
1693 Rev. Moses Noyes formally installed.
1694 Town shepherd provided according to law.
1694 School for 3 months, Feb. I-May I, private home.
1695 First school committee chosen.
1697 It was voted to have schoolmaster and to keep school.
1700
Two months' school voted; moving school voted.
1700
Saw- and gristmill at Sterling City. CAPT. DANIEL STRALING
170I
A highway built over Lord's Hill to Cove.
1701
Contract for corn mill with F. Dewolfe.
1702 Meeting to agree about school and build schoolhouse.
1702 Division of land completed.
1703 School committee of 4 to lay out country money.
1703 School in 4 parts of town.
1708 Committee of 5 elected.
1709 Law to control export of timber. Drawbridge over Lieuten- ant River.
1709 School committee to examine country money.
1709 Black Hall Bridge made a town bridge.
I7II School to be kept in 4 parts.
1712 Schoolmaster appointed for 3 years at £30 per year.
1713-35 A number of highways laid out in Lyme.
1717 East Society formed.
1717 Moses Noyes' salary to be £45 and farm for life.
I720 Schoolmaster to be chosen; year to begin June I.
I720 Road survey made.
243
A Work Chart.
State Events
1677 State fines and penalties for neglect of education.
1677 Nine months' school in every town or £25 fine.
1678 State required school in every town of 30 families.
1679 Cider 10 shillings a barrel.
1682 Uncas died 1682 or 1683.
King William's War : 1686-97.
1684 Houses and lands for school purposes freed from taxes; school dames in smaller towns.
1685 May 14. Patent of Town of Lyme issued.
I686 Gov. Andros in New England.
1688 Gov. Andros demanded Connecticut Charter.
1690 General Court ordered New Haven and Hartford High School free.
1690 Minimum school reduced from 9 months to 6 months.
1693 Post from Portsmouth to New York via Lyme went twice a week.
1698 Assembly made two houses.
I700 English merchants buying American-built ships.
1700 Law of 1650 reënacted. Local tax, 40s. on every 1,000 pounds.
School: 6 months in towns of 71 families or less, others 12 months.
170I 1701
New Haven joint capital of State.
Yale founded at Saybrook.
I702 1706
School committee recognized by State.
Colony in very low circumstances: only £2,000 in cash.
1708 Colony made Congregationalism established church.
III Money from 40s. tax ordered paid to "committee for the school."
Schools put under control of Ecclesiastical Societies.
1712 1713 No manufactures; trade with New York, Boston and West Indies.
1714 First printer in colony at New London: £50 per year.
1717 Ecclesiastical Societies empowered to lay tax for support of schools and choose collector.
1717 Collegiate School removed to New Haven; called Yale.
Queen Anne's War : 1701-13.
244 Educational History of Old Lyme.
Local Events
1721 School in 2 places; school committee of 3.
1721 Fulling mill on Mill Brook.
1722 Drum-beater hired to beat drum for church.
1722 Timothy Mather to build bridge over Lieutenant River ..
1725 Voted to erect 2 schoolhouses, Jan. 22.
I725
One committeeman for the school.
1726
Lees and Lays given contract for sawmill on Bride's Brook. North Society formed.
1726
1727 Detailed report of bounty on foxes; contract for iron works. 1728 Committee of 3 elected.
I733
Cost to Society of teacher for year not to exceed £60.
1735
Voted care of town poor.
1735 Wood for school provided by Society and added to rate.
1736
Voted to build new meetinghouse on Meeting House Hill.
1736 Voted 1/3 of school support be paid by parents. 2 schools of 4 months, Dec. 1-April 1. 2 schools (by dames) in sum- mer. Black Hall Center.
1737 Rotating school: Jan. to July in one, July to Jan. in other.
1738 3 months in each school. 1739: 3 months winter and 3 months fall.
1740 Nov. 13, first meeting in new meetinghouse.
1740 School II months. Husbands allowed to sit with wives in church.
I744 2 school committees of 3, north side and south.
1745 4 months in each schoolhouse each year.
1746 3rd schoolhouse to be built at Three Mile River.
1747 Contracted for town saddler; planned school at Mile Creek. 4th schoolhouse to be built near Isaac Hall's house.
1748
1749 2 southern and 2 northern schoolhouses.
1749 Salt works set up in Lyme.
1750 All schools not kept 4 months must have dames for balance.
1750 Ferry franchise to John Brockway; Halls establish iron works.
1750 John McCurdy bought McCurdy house.
1752 New bridge over Lieutenant River on old site.
1752 School committee of 5 Mile Creek School approved.
1754 Town to build wharf for ferry; highway built across Neck to ferry.
1758 Neck School built.
I759 School at South Lyme.
1761 Flax Mill: school committee of 7 members.
I733
15 Indians made members of church at Lyme.
245
A Work Chart.
State Events
1725 Meetinghouse, East Lyme, 1725.
1726 John Hall and James Wadsworth appointed guardians of Mohegans by General Assembly.
1727 Act legalized division of town or towns in the Colony into separate societies ( Ist, 2nd and 3rd in Lyme).
1728 State ordered Treasurer to receive country money from con- stables and redistribute to school committees.
I733 School fund: sale of western townships; excise tax also for schools.
1735 Silk culture.
1740 Period of Great Awakening.
1740 Manufacture of tinware begun at Berlin, Conn.
King George's War.
1745 1748
1750 School committee required by law, in charge of land and funds. School Visitors in charge of inspection and supervision. Towns over 70 families II months, under 70 families 6 months.
1753 Connecticut had 3 ports, all cleared at New London.
The first newspaper, Connecticut Gazette. Period of great increase in shipping.
1755 1758 Silk industry inaugurated at Mansfield.
1761 '14I commissioned ships in Connecticut.
French and Indian War: 1758-63.
246 Educational History of Old Lyme.
Local Events
1765 Sill Lane School.
1771 Voted to keep 6 schools.
I772 Voted to keep 5 schools, 2 schools in homes.
1773 7 school districts set up, used one year. School committee of 6; 4 months' school voted.
I774 Town meeting on war in Boston; money sent.
Tax of 2 pence on pound for schooling.
1777 Voted money for Lyme families whose men were at war.
Tax of 7 pence on pound for schooling.
I779 Committee to secure clothing and blankets for soldiers.
1780 Mr. John McCurdy had large trade in West Indies. 4 months' schooling in winter.
1784 Committee to build bridge over Eight Mile River.
1784 Matthew Griswold elected governor. 8 school districts.
1785 Samuel and James Mather succeeded John McCurdy in West Indies.
1786 Voted to divide town into 7 districts including Neck; School committee of 7, I from each district.
1790 Pentway from Main Street to Demings Landing.
1790 Samuel Mather house built (parsonage).
1791 Wharves built on Lieutenant River for trade with the West Indies.
1792 Tax for support of minister discontinued; pews sold.
1792 Voted to rotate town meeting: Ist, 2nd and 3rd Societies.
1792 Voted to repair town roads for stage. £6 voted for singing master.
1794 Town voted against the sale of Western Lands.
I795 Last mention of schools in Ecclesiastical Records ..
1797 Voted that pews and hind seats in eastern gallery be for females only.
1798 Moses Warren dedicated district school.
1803 Law regulating oysters.
1805 Vote in favor of New London-Saybrook ferry.
1807 New London-Lyme Turnpike Co. chartered. Stages went to ferry.
Voted to build pier at south side of great bridge.
1809 Voted to dispose of all paupers to lowest bidder.
1809 Memorial to President opposing war.
1810 Lyme had 3 church societies. 24 school districts. 2 Baptists, I Methodist, 1 Separatist.
1810 Land for new Center School.
1810 Nathaniel and George Griswold establish lucrative trade in China.
1815 Population of Lyme 4,321: 500 freemen, 567 dwellings.
247
A Work Chart.
State Events
1764 Hartford Courant published.
1766 State granted towns right to divide into districts. Schools 6 to II months.
1769 Connecticut passed law against slave trade (unprofitable ).
1769 Imports from England yearly to Connecticut, £2,000,000. Post riders carry mails.
1772 I774 I775
Excise money voted for use of schools.
3,000 troops from Connecticut at Cambridge in 1775.
I775 Traveling vehicles of any sort the luxury of the few. War brought new roads.
1781 First Mass celebrated in Connecticut for French soldiers.
1783 Webster's Spelling Book.
1784 Slavery abolished.
1785 Hartford had thriving trade with West Indies; prominent in commercial trade of United States.
I792 Turnpike companies organized.
I792 General Assembly grants one-half-million acres to citizens for property loss.
I792 Hartford, New Haven and Union Banks incorporated.
1794 School Societies allowed to lay tax for schoolhouse, locate it and choose collector; school districts organized.
1795 School Societies to meet annually in Oct. Sale of Western Reserve.
1797 Each Society to appoint Visitors of Schools to visit biannually.
1799 School tax: $2 on every $1,000 assessment.
I799 First dividend on School Fund.
1800 Few private schools before 1800; few books.
1800
Population of Connecticut 250,000.
1800 Stagecoaches start regular trips.
1808 First bridge across the Connecticut River at Enfield.
1810 James Hillhouse elected Commissioner of School Fund.
School Fund to districts by number of days attended.
Manufacturers to see that children in their employ could read and write.
1814 Era of incorporating manufactures.
3 ships of blockading squadron at mouth of Connecticut River.
Kevolutionary War: 1774-83.
War of 1812: 1812-16.
1810 1813
1814
248 Educational History of Old Lyme.
Local Events
1817 New meetinghouse built on present site.
1818-20 Town meetings rotate: First, East and North Societies.
1818
Singing School on the Neck.
1819 New Salem Parish made a town.
1819 Association of Churches at meetinghouse; 1,000 present, 3 days.
1820 Board of Relief appears on Town List.
1821 Mr. John Griswold establishes famous packet line.
1822 Steamers met at Ely's Wharf by stages for Lyme and New London. Numbers of sloops on the river.
1824 Connecticut River boat met by stage at Lyme for New London.
1825 6 schoolhouses exempted from taxation.
1826 Oppose annexation of Town of Lyme to County of Middle- sex.
1827 7 schoolhouses exempted. Camp meeting of 4,000.
1829 Stoves first introduced into the meetinghouse.
1829 Town receives title to road from Chas. McCurdy's to Higgins Wharf.
Steamboats make regular trips, New York to Hartford.
1833 8 schoolhouses exempted in 1833.
1835 Violent hurricane, wharves gone, Calves Island 31/2 ft. under.
1837 Complete records of Town Deposit Fund.
1839 East Lyme made a town.
1840 Great increase in ferries and bridges.
1840 182 dwelling houses in Lyme.
1846 Single individual to examine teachers according to law.
1847 8 district schools, all male teachers.
1849 205 dwelling houses in Lyme.
1851 School Nov. 15-March 15. Summer: May 3-Sept. 22.
1851 Barnard made statewide attack on attendance.
1851 Judge McCurdy of Lyme sent to Austria as chargé d'af- faires.
1855 Town of Old Lyme incorporated. Population 1,387.
1857 Teachers Institute met in Lyme, only time since 1839.
249
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State Events
1818 Congregationalists establish Sunday Schools.
1818 Connecticut State Constitution.
1820 Since 1820 School Fund has been divided by number of chil- dren aged 4-16.
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